Always
by XxStarryxxSkyxX
Summary: Oneshot. They were two, they were one. L and Light would always be together. Always. Light shonen-ai, character death, spoilers. Meant to be a drabble, but turned out longer. Sorry it says it is in the story.


Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Cautious.

Calm.

Careful.

Controlling.

Light Yagami.

Insightful.

Intelligent.

Indefatigable.

Indignant.

L.

Two personalities, so alike, so different. Two names, one letter. Two men, one set of mind. Competition, cooperation. Impossible to get along, impossible to stay apart.

Love.

No, not love. More like…

Passion.

And not the kind you see in movies, either. It's not loving, caring, or orthodox in the least.

Because he is Light, and he is L.

They are one, they are two.

Black and white.

Up and down.

I could go on… But I won't.

I'll get to the point.

It's always a competition with those two, even when it's unspoken. From trivial matters such as who finishes their tea faster to larger matters such as who discovers the most information on Kira, they're always competing.

But not on the outside.

Outwardly, they're the perfect team, the pinnacle of flawlessness, one could almost say the best of friends. Diligently working to complete their ideals, Ryuuzaki and Light, justice, combined together.

On the inside, it's L versus Kira, a never-ending battle of wits, both working their equally large brains to prove they're the definition of justice. A world without criminals, a mystical notebook… A detective who always solves the case.

Always.

And from the moment he saw that name, Light Yagami, glaring up at him from the paper that lay haphazardly on the floor in front of his laptop, L knew. The moment he saw that boy walk through the door of his house and into the range of one of the many hidden cameras, his suspicions were confirmed. That was it. Light Yagami. Kira. They were one in the same. Open and shut. He just needed evidence…

Light Yagami was always the top of his class, and from the moment that test back in pre-school came back to him with an A+ and a bright yellow smiley plastered on the top, along with a note scribbled in red from his teacher reading, _"Great job, Light-chan!" _Light knew he would always be the best.

Always.

And from the moment he saw that strange man crouched in the chair a few seats behind him at the college entrance exam, he knew. It could be said it was just a hunch, but deep down inside, he knew. It was L. At the entrance ceremony, his suspicions were confirmed.

Strange.

From either perspective, that was the first word that came to mind.

How could Light be so perfect? So incredibly faultless that it was scary. Pressed slacks, crisp, clean blazer, pearly white shirt, perfectly knotted tie… Honey-colored skin devoid of even the most unnoticeable blackhead, – L knew, he had scrutinized the boy quite thoroughly – perfect brunette hair, not a strand out of place, lovely brown-gold eyes that shined even in a room devoid of light.

Because he _was _Light.

Light, so perfect, was shocked by the appearance of the great detective L. The sleek, cool detective was a mess. A complete, absolute _mess. _Disheveled black hair, though shiny as if newly dyed, was messier than Light would ever let his become, even on the roughest of days or nights. Black eyes, so empty, seemed to see right through him, as if the man could tell his deepest, darkest secrets from the moment those haunting eyes fell upon him.

And he was right.

An untidy, crumpled white shirt covered a lithe form. Disgusting. Light would _never _let his clothes become so untidy. Had the man ever even _seen _an iron? Slightly faded blue jeans covered legs that were pulled up to the man's chest, crouched in an unsightly way. So undignified. Further down, the man wasn't even wearing socks under his tattered sneakers. Filthy.

Yes, from the moment they saw each other, they both knew they'd always hate each other.

Always.

And yet, here they were, working on a case together. Why? Because both were intelligent. More so than the average person. They made the perfect team. Two minds come together to create an even smarter consciousness.

Light and L finally understood the expression "Two heads are better than one."

Though they didn't like it.

Kira, L, L, Kira.

Opposites.

Opposites… With the same common goal.

To create a better world for the people they loved so much. As a whole, that was. Thinking back on it, if Light hadn't picked up that suspicious 

notebook on that fateful day, they perhaps would've had a happier ending, working cases side by side, loving humanity, and…

Loving each other?

It was a possibility.

They _were _both humans, after all, members of the same species they loved so much, fighting for the same thing.

Justice.

The way Kira, _Light,_ had gone about it, however, was despicable in L's eyes. Human lives. He was taking away human lives. The lives of criminals, no doubt, but he had no authority to do so. He was a bratty little child with a God complex who needed to either see the error of his ways and repent or pay for the lives lost with his own.

L would see to it that one of those options definitely came true.

Light had other plans.

Who was L to say what he was doing was wrong? He even had the gall to say it was downright _evil! _He'd show L a thing or two. He'd kill L, he'd triumph, he'd become the god of the new world. To do so, though, he had to lead L to Kira… Or so he thought. In reality, he was just setting him up to fail. There was no way he'd ever give in, especially not to his greatest rival.

No matter the challenge, he would always reign superior.

Always.

Be it in their small fistfights or the grand life-or-death battle, Light would win.

L would win.

Conflicting thoughts and feelings…

They couldn't _both _win, could they?

No.

One of them would _have _to lose, one of them would _have _to die.

As much as, deep down, L felt a tiny scrap of disappointment. Such a great mind, such a beautiful boy, would have to part from this world. It was a pity, really. L would have loved to have Light working with him on many cases in the future. The _real _Light, not Kira. Granted, L had first met Light as Kira, but after a long imprisonment, he had met the real Light.

"Look into my eyes."

And L did.

Those weren't the eyes of a murderer.

L knew.

He always knew.

Always.

Somehow, Light was no longer Kira. For the time being, that was. And L liked it. He liked the way Light's eyes looked, suddenly wide and innocent. He loved how Light would actually work his hardest on the 

case rather than try to turn L's suspicions away from himself constantly – though he still denied ever being Kira when L brought it up.

If only…

If only he would've stayed that way.

But from the moment Light touched the Death Note, the murder weapon, _his _weapon, he regained the look his eyes held when L met him. The narrow-eyed, _evil _look.

And again, L knew.

He was Kira again, and nothing would change that.

It was pointless.

He still pressed on.

Even on that fateful day, the day bells rang in his ears nonstop…

Slow, steady, like church bells. He may have said they could've been from a wedding, but no. He knew wedding bells were fast and cheerful, meant to brighten everyone's day. But these bells were different.

_Rrrringggggg…_

_Rrrringggggg…_

_Rrringggggg…_

The sound of a funeral.

Why not cherish his final living moments? He knew he'd be gone soon enough. Kira had beaten him, at least temporarily. He dried his feet, in the same sense as the bible story. And in turn, almost in pity, Light, _Kira, _had rubbed his hair, his face, both still dripping wet, lightly with his towel.

A soft touch.

A warm touch.

A god's touch.

And from the moment those haunting words danced on every screen, illuminating L and Light red…

"_All data deleted."_

L knew.

He always knew.

He could practically feel Light's smirk on the back of his head, he could hear Kira's deep, pleased laugh echoing over the ever-taunting bells, while in turn, Light could feel L's frustration as the sound of the bells were to finally dim and fade.

And that was it.

The once lively pounding in his chest suddenly became erratic, and pain shot through his body, as if someone had shoved a knife through his chest. He could feel the world slipping from beneath him as he fell from his chair, letting the tiny silver spoon he had been holding fall to the desk. He didn't even hear the light clatter it made on the metal, didn't hear the worried words of the task force members. No. The bells were too loud.

The bells and the laughter.

The only feeling he registered after that was strong arms catching him.

A familiar grip.

He had felt the hands grabbing his shoulders more than once, right before a strong fist had crashed into his face.

He had felt the grip lightly run over his shoulders and back whenever Light peered over his shoulder at new evidence for the case.

He felt that same light breath tickling his ear many a time as Light leaned over him, his face resting so close to him.

So close…

The pain in his chest was numb, almost nonexistent, and he felt himself drifting away.

Nothing was real anymore.

Nothing but Light.

…

It was ironic.

The pain in his heart was back.

It had slowly grown more recognizable with each passing second, each second Light's face twisted into a grin, a horrible, almost unreal grin.

He was staring into the face of Kira.

He didn't know why it hurt him.

He didn't know why the bells suddenly sounded so horribly uninviting.

'_I knew it… I wasn't wrong… but… I…'_

Don't want to leave him?

He should've known he would have to.

He knew there would be others to carry on his legacy.

He knew visions of himself would haunt Light as he slept.

He knew, from the moment he saw Light, that he was a challenge.

A brilliant mind.

A brilliant boy.

He knew he stood no chance by himself.

He always knew.

And he would always be there.

He would never leave.

He would always be near this boy if he could help it.

Observing him, working alongside him.

L would always be there, until the end.

Until Light was laying in a puddle of blood, staring in front of him as his heart burst in his chest, staring into a familiar face that he knew he shouldn't be seeing.

L would always be there.

Always.

_OWARI_

Wow… That turned out better than expected. This was meant to be hardcore yaoi, but it came out as a drabble. I hope you like it. This is my best work on this account so far… And my most depressing work ever.


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